Chapter 1075 The ten major divisions of the Baltic people
The Polotsk people had to accept the reality of defeat. At least it seemed that the conquerors were reasonable.
They have to pay a higher price for their defeat, and a batch of grain is this price.
The cavalry was always stationed outside the city. Fisk tried his best to restrain his men. At least the Russian army did a good job. At least Quetzal's Pechenegs did not rush into the village to rob, but these prairie people drove the horses directly to eat.
Farmers can only stare in grief and anger at the wheat that is in urgent need of harvest.
The war compensation Fiske demanded was half of Polotsk's harvest this year. The pressure was distributed to every village. After threshing and shelling, the army received food, which was considered a tribute.
Since that meeting, Proclaw, who had lost all face, could no longer be the leader, and the new leader, Lambart, was only superficially supported by the tribe, but was secretly criticized.
After all, Rampart's inconsistent despicable people are the ones who surrendered, and now they are taking away everyone's food.
Collecting tribute from the defeated is risky, and Fisk is worried that he will encounter strong resistance from irrational people.
It's time for Lambart to prove his loyalty!
For this man who finally got the position of leader, of course he had to do things for the Russian conquerors for this power. At first, he thought simply, thinking that these people would not be careful when asking for food. Unexpectedly, the bald general did it
After some calculations, I actually came up with a specific number.
"Assuming that you have 10,000 people, there will be 2,000 small families. Each family has one Russian hectare of land, and the oat harvest will be calculated as one thousand pounds. In the end, you will have to attack Russia with one million pounds of oats."
Even the residents of Polotsk are still using the measurement units left over from the Roman era. For them, the "Roman pound" is the only standardized unit of weight. It is not known when this set of standards began, at least the Latvian merchants and Vaticans who passed through Riga.
Liange merchants are all using it, as are several tribes in the distance. Polotsk must also use it if it wants to do business with people in distant places.
Lambart understood Fiske's request, but at least the amount requested was too large. He kept an eye on it and wanted to operate it carefully and give less.
Such a plan was discovered by Fisk, but when he thought about it, it was like shearing sheep. If you cut the sheep bare in one go, it would freeze to death. If you plunder these defeated guys too hard, you might break the jar.
Others can be horse bandits. After all, he is a general under the king. He has to consider the face of the Russians in everything he does.
He knew Lambart's inner appeal, so he made a compromise: "You can pay the tribute in batches. I will give you five years to transport 200,000 pounds per year. The oats will be sent to Vitebsk upstream of the river.
Even if the mission is completed.”
After the war, the population of Polotsk still exceeded 10,000. However, many high-quality farm tools were lost, which caused a big blow to agricultural production. It was impossible to get back the iron farm tools, but the remaining farm tools could still be produced.
Fiske first estimated the farmland area and yield per mu of a local man. Out of his own contempt, he did not think that the farmland of this group of guys could be highly productive, so he defaulted to "poor farmland" with a yield of only a thousand pounds per hectare.
.Although the actual situation is not as dire as Fisk predicted, the agricultural situation is also far inferior to the fertile farmland of the Russians at Yin Ermen Lake.
Providing 200,000 pounds as tribute for five consecutive years. Handing over this batch of food will not starve the people, but the agricultural surplus will become better than nothing. In this way, there is no need to think about exchanging more materials to enrich yourself in five years.
At least, the people will not suffer from famine.
Lambart was convinced that these conquerors would not slowly torture the Polotsk people to death, so he boldly asked: "Are we... sheep to you?"
"You are indeed sheep, you just have your wool cut off regularly by us. But that's not necessarily the case. Our king is a benevolent ruler. If you are obedient enough, King Rus may exempt you from all tributes."
Fiske cleverly described a bright future for them, and regarding the issue of tribute, he first handed over one million pounds this year, and then adjusted the mortgage payment and paid it off in five years. Fiske showed Ross's kindness, and for Polotsk
Nobles, they felt that these conquerors were compromising.
Many old guys just suffered from the Stockholm Syndrome and began to feel that it was too late to meet the Russians. If they had known about this, they might as well have sent envoys to the north to ask for surrender.
The autumn harvest in the T-junction area of the Polota River and the West Dvina River where Polotsk is located is in full swing, and a group of cavalry are staying aside to rest lazily.
Under normal circumstances, the dried wheat straw of oats and rye will be used as raw materials for roof haystacks and as feed for livestock. Wheat straw is not very effective for feeding livestock, so it is perfect for roofing, especially when the autumn rains are coming soon.
The Polotsk people did not raise many cattle and sheep. Each of the ten villages handed over five cattle, and a total of fifty cattle were provided to the conquerors. They took out a group of old cattle very thiefly, and the prairie people could see this clearly.
, the Ross-Ostara coalition knew just as well. Fisk couldn’t say anything. It was only his fault that he didn’t explain clearly when he asked for this special tribute. It’s not because the old beef is of poor quality and cannot be eaten, and it’s good to eat it with barbecue, not to mention the army
You really need to prepare for the next phase of action.
In the riverside area, the open-air camp of the Russian army was always lively, even at night.
The wheat harvest work is in full swing, and no one from the army has set foot in the settlements of local villagers in the past few days. At first, the villagers still called the people on the riverside "terrorist horse bandits", but later they continued to observe these guys without disturbing them, and were wary of them.
It's getting lower and lower. Even those who are slaughtering cows by the river look too scary. What's even more scary is that these guys don't even spare the blood of the cows.
At least the Polotsk people are no longer a nation that eats cow blood. Essentially, they feel that cow blood is too smelly. Secondly, it is a thing for priests and gods. Various explanations are combined to say that the nation does not eat cow blood unless it is absolutely necessary.
Ross also had a similar explanation, but the real Ostara people are obsessed with animal husbandry and cooking cattle blood. Unfortunately, the Ostara now and the old one are two different concepts.
This is not the case for the Pechenegs. The "blood eaters" they were hit by are them. After all, living in the vast grassland, any food is precious. They will drink the blood of cows and the marrow in the bones of cows.
Eat it clean and eat the smelly beef intestines just like they are cleaned and grilled.
The whole army is roasting beef on a large scale, and each soldier intends to roast the meat he is assigned until it is completely dehydrated.
They will also receive a brand new supply, the newly harvested oats provided by the Polotsk people.
Each cavalryman will hang a large bag on his saddle, which must contain new wheat.
Old Harold, who led the way, still kept his pseudonym Olaf. He had learned about the Russians' next plan, and was inevitably a little worried about it.
The campfire crackled, and the aroma of wheat and barbecue filled the camp.
Old Harold had a full meal. He knew that the bald general of Ross must have something important to say when he asked him to sit at this campfire.
"Soon we will continue to march downstream. You come from the Gulf of Riga, and you must be the guide. How about it? I think you have already thought about it."
Although he had already made some assumptions, Old Harold was still worried when he was asked directly. He looked into Fisk's eyes: "You...don't want to loot Riga, right?"
"Lossing? No. It's not in my plan. But...it's not completely impossible."
Old Harold was startled, with obvious fear on his face.
"You are scared. Olaf, remember your current identity. You are a servant of the Principality of Ostara, that is, a servant of Rus. You should make a cut with the Gulf of Riga."
"Cut? How is it possible to cut?" He lowered his head and said with a helpless smile.
"That's right." Fisk looked up at the bright starry sky, then turned to look into his eyes: "That's why I need your guidance. I don't want any misunderstandings to arise."
"So you want me to mediate and ask the locals to surrender to Ross?"
"If this is the best." Fisk slapped his thigh happily, not hiding his desire for honor: "The king gave me the power to act independently, and I want to open up territory for Russia. In fact, even though the locals in Riga showed
There is strong resistance. When the Ross army gathers, it is not a problem to wipe out the local area. If friendly relations can be established from the beginning through negotiation, that would be the best. I want to talk to the local leaders in Riga before winter.
, I am also very interested in your Danish settler community and I hope we can chat."
Hearing these heartfelt words, Old Harold's mind was spinning wildly. He is a Danish immigrant, and he has only ordinary trade relations with the local Latvians and several surrounding tribes. This is why more than ten people have followed him to the world.
A fledgling Latvian boy was hacked to death by the Russians, which was the main reason why he, as the leader, was not sad.
It seems that this group of Russians and guys from the steppes don't understand the Latvian language at all, and the only ones who can communicate perfectly with them are the Danish descendants living in Riga.
Old Harold thought for a while and said deliberately and meaningfully: "Actually, it's not just Latvia, there are other tribes there. They speak similar languages, and sometimes they get along with each other and sometimes they fight."
Fisk said cleverly: "Oh? Aren't they the same kind of people?"
"They distinguish themselves very clearly."
"Now that I have nothing to do, you... might as well talk about those guys."
Fisk asked this, and Harold realized to some extent that this was not a simple and boring question. The bald Ross general wanted to know the names of the tribes that might be conquered, so that he could actually launch a war of conquest and choose the right target.
After all, old Harold lacks empathy with the various Latvians who don't believe in Odin. It is said that a new king has emerged in Denmark, a noble from the Stonewall tribe, and Denmark and Rus are in an alliance. Now the Danish community living in Riga
As long as the group has a relationship with Ross, he will not gain huge power overnight?
(aukshtait), zhemait (zhemait), Prussia (pruss), Utevin ()." Old Harold raised his finger and counted out ten tribal names. In fact, there are some smaller tribes, but unfortunately they are not powerful enough.
It's extremely weak and doesn't even deserve a name.
Fisk knew almost nothing about these names, he had only heard of them. After all, it was a Latvian tribe that now controlled the city of Riga, or the name of Riga was a variant of the tribe's name.
"Are there actually ten tribes?"
"This is something I've learned all my life. I've done business with many tribes and know something about them." Old Harold continued.
"So, which tribe do you think is the most powerful?"
"It's Prussia and Juventus." Old Harold asked cautiously: "Do you want to attack them? Do you want to defeat the strongest?"
"The battle is no longer in my plan!" Fisk repeated: "However, if a conflict does break out in the future, we must know the potential enemies in advance."
Old Harold has always said it very truthfully. The Prussian savages often fight with the Slavic-speaking guys in Poland, and the same goes for the Utvins (the direct ancestors of the Lithuanians). The reason for their strength is that they occupy a suitable area.
With good land for growing grain, tribesmen often have more fighting potential. Just like this, the nearby Slavs wanted to occupy the local area, and conflicts broke out.
This old guy said a lot, but unfortunately Fiske also had a very vague concept of "Poland". Hearing that those people also spoke Slavic, he had a little more favorable impression, and maybe he could be conquered by Russia in the future.
.
With a lot of names hitting his head, Fiske at least understood that his understanding of the Gulf of Riga was too one-sided. It was a brand new world, and it was also a world that the Russians had not set foot in in the past era.
There are ten local forces speaking the same language, which are actually the ten largest tribes of the Baltic people.
Now, the door to the Gulf of Riga has been opened. The Ross Cavalry only needs to continue downstream to finally reach the Danish immigrant settlement in Riga. The various tribes cannot be contacted in a short time. Fisk's next action
I just plan to have a good chat with Latvians and local Danes.
He explained this idea to old Harold without reservation, and soon got a new explanation from the old guy.
"If the cavalry continues, you will not encounter a Latvian village immediately."
"Who will we meet?"
"The Serlonians. According to their language, they are the people who live in the hills."
"Will those guys block the river?" Fisk couldn't help but ask.
"That's not true, they don't have the ability."
"I think so. If they dare to set up obstacles, my cavalry will attack them. By the way. Are they strong?"
"Not strong. The population is not large, but they all live on the mounds and even built fortresses. As you said, you have to fight unless you have to. Those guys are not rich, and they only built fortresses to protect themselves. Attacking them is troublesome.
You won't get much benefit from all the effort, so there's no need to waste your time here."
"Okay." Fisk shrugged and looked sideways at the old guy: "Are you speaking for the Seron tribe? Are there any friends of yours there?"
"You can't talk about friends and you can't talk about enemies. If you are in a hurry, there is no need to waste time with the Thron people. At least this year."
"That's fine. Then move forward quickly along the river!"
As a result, the cavalry quickly completed the supplies. The steppe cavalry did not realize their dream of getting rich, but the thirst for knowledge to explore the new world dominated their bodies, and this regret was quickly eliminated. After all, as long as they continue to walk along the river, they can eventually reach the sea in the north. Peche
The Negr warriors had seen the sea in the south (referring to the Caspian Sea), but they still didn't know what the sea in the north looked like.
Each cavalryman carried a sack of newly shelled oats and roasted hard beef jerky. The cavalrymen arrived at the settlement of Polotsk like a wind, and now they left quickly.
For the people of Polotsk, they spent a complicated autumn and realized that times had completely changed. A group of plague gods headed towards the mouth of the river. People let out a sigh of relief, and everything seemed to be back to normal.
But how can the large number of horseshoe prints left by the river disappear so easily?
They will be back soon...
(I found an anthropology paper, a linguistics paper, and an ancient map of Northeast Europe drawn in the 16th century for reference)